Uber’s IPO caps an era of mediocrity and small thinking in Silicon Valley

Uber debuted below its IPO price on Friday and ended up down more than 7%, crawling across the finish line with a valuation below $80 billion.

That’s a far cry from the $120 billion that was floated as recently as December. Founders and early investors will still going to get spectacularly rich, but late-comers and retail investors may find there’s not much upside left unless the company can solve the quandary of serving a two-sided market profitably.